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Re:Calculators Now Emulated at Internet Archive by pcmoore on Sunday January 29, 2023 @07:13AM (#34567381)
What's a good simple calculator for programmers? Easy entry/conversion of hex and binary but simple arithmetic with possible shifts. I don't need to do trigonometry.
Re:Calculators Now Emulated at Internet Archive by jimmaswell on Sunday January 29, 2023 @07:18AM (#34567416)
I use WolframAlpha for everything
Re:Calculators Now Emulated at Internet Archive by pcmoore on Sunday January 29, 2023 @07:36AM (#34567518)
I'm looking for a physical calculator
Re:Calculators Now Emulated at Internet Archive by jameshart on Sunday January 29, 2023 @09:50AM (#34568606)
Why?

Calculators are a relic of when we used to require separate single function devices to accomplish anything, like VCRs, Cameras, GPS receivers, music samplers, or transistor radios.

There is nothing a physical calculator can do that an IPython session can’t. And a physical calculator can’t copy paste the result where you want it (except modern phone camera OCR has I guess got to the point where you could probably grab the result off a calculator screen).

Outside of cases where you need dedicated pieces of hardware to accomplish a task, like motors or heating elements or something, there’s very little reason for preferring a dedicated device these days over a software or app equivalent. And even then, a version of the hardware that hooks up to a general purpose device to use its input and screen is likely the most useful form factor.

Modern ‘single function devices’ are most likely actually just low power multifunction computers running most of the functionality in software anyway.

Re:Calculators Now Emulated at Internet Archive by PeterisP on Sunday January 29, 2023 @10:03AM (#34568709)
Dedicated physical buttons are far superior to 'universal' touchscreen interfaces, if the thing you need fits on them.

And having a separate dedicated device helps having a workflow that doesn't invite distraction or context switching on a universal device, so having a dedicated device often is a reasonable intentional choice even if the same functionality is already available on another non-dedicated device.

Re:Calculators Now Emulated at Internet Archive by jameshart on Sunday January 29, 2023 @10:26AM (#34568916)
You can buy dedicated physical buttons and plug them into a computer. They’re called ‘keyboards’.
Re:Calculators Now Emulated at Internet Archive by avgcorrection on Sunday January 29, 2023 @05:18PM (#34573371)
Some even come in a format specialized for numerical data entry. They’re called “numpads”. :)
Re:Calculators Now Emulated at Internet Archive by PeterisP on Monday January 30, 2023 @01:58PM (#34584687)
Some numpads even come with an attached specialized screen to show you what you entered and a bunch of other features - they're called "calculators" :)
Re:Calculators Now Emulated at Internet Archive by avgcorrection on Monday January 30, 2023 @02:44PM (#34585337)
And the circle is complete :)
Re:Calculators Now Emulated at Internet Archive by Tor3 on Sunday January 29, 2023 @03:11PM (#34572181)
I use a computer, and, as you mentioned later, one with a keyboard connected. However, except for simple stuff I still reach for my phone which has an HP emulator running, to do calculations with what looks like an actual calculator. Except that it doesn't have those very special old HP calculator buttons, so it's much worse than the real thing (I have an HP 16C laying around, but not a general style HP). But still preferable to the computer. So, here I am, with a computer and having used computers daily for close to half a century, and still grabbing for a dedicated thing for doing certain types of calculations.
Re:Calculators Now Emulated at Internet Archive by pwg on Sunday January 29, 2023 @07:49AM (#34567611)
HP produced the HP-16C for programmers a long time ago:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP-16C

Swiss Micro seems to be producing clones:

https://www.amazon.com/SwissMicros-DM16L/dp/B01DYTVZF2

Re:Calculators Now Emulated at Internet Archive by fbdab103 on Sunday January 29, 2023 @11:39AM (#34569776)
I know a guy who keeps one of these on his desk today. Thing must be 20+ years old. He claims it is the only calculator he can use now.
Re:Calculators Now Emulated at Internet Archive by Tor3 on Sunday January 29, 2023 @03:03PM (#34572084)
I have one, bought it new many decades ago. If the SwissMicro clones have as good keys as the old HP originals then I wouldn't hesitate buying one of those if you're interested in a 16C.
Re:Calculators Now Emulated at Internet Archive by hajile on Monday January 30, 2023 @08:21AM (#34579228)
SwissMicros make really good devices if you’re willing to pay the price. I carry my HP42 clone everywhere.

They make a clone of the programmer HP-16c that is pretty nice. Everything is open source too, so there’s modding potential if you are into that kind of thing.

https://www.swissmicros.com/product/dm16